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1. To the Emperor Titus Ælius Adrianus Antoninus Pius Augustus Cæsar, and to his son Verissimus the Philosopher, and to Lucius the Philosopher, the son of (Ælius Verus) Cæsar by birth, and of

b

2

The figures in the margin refer to the pages in the Paris Edition. b The Emperor Adrian adopted Lucius Ælius Verus, and gave him the title of Cæsar. This Lucius died; leaving only one son Lucius Verus.

Adrian then adopted Titus Antoninus Pius, as his successor, upon condition that he should adopt both Marcus Aurelius Antoninus, who is here called Verissimus, his wife's brother's son, and Lucius Verus, the son of Elius Verus.

The following scheme will show the relation in which Lucius Verus stood toward Antoninus Pius and Lucius Elius Verus.

Thus Lucius Verus was by birth son of L. Ælius Verus Cæsar, and the adopted son of Antoninus Pius. The apology of Athenagoras is in like manner inscribed to Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Ælius, or Aurelius Verus, the philosophers.

Of Lucius Verus the following character is given by GIBBON, (History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Book 1. ch. 3.) "He was adopted by Pius; and on the accession of Marcus

Pius by adoption, the lover of learning; and to the sacred Senate, and to all the Roman people, in behalf of those of all nations who are unjustly hated and persecuted, I Justin, the son of Priscus, and grandson of Bacchius, natives of Flavia Neapolis of Syria Palestine, being myself one of those (who are so unjustly used) offer this address and supplication.

2. Reason herself dictates that those, who can with propriety be denominated Pious' and 'Philosophers,' should love and honor truth alone, and refuse to follow the opinions of the ancients, if plainly erroneous. For right reason not only forbids us to assent to those who are unjust, either in practice or in principle, but commands the lover of truth, by all means, to choose that which is just in word and deed, even in preference to his own life, and under the threatened danger of immediate death. Now ye hear continually ascribed to yourselves the appellations, 'Pious,' 'Philosophers,' Guardians of Justice,' and 'Lovers of Learning:' but whether ye also really are such, the event will show. For we have come before you, not to flatter you in this address, nor to obtain favor by words of adulation, but to demand that judgment may be passed according to strict and well-weighed reason; that ye be not influenced by prejudice or the desire of pleasing superstitious men, nor, through inconsiderate passion, and the long prevalence of an evil report, pass a sentence, which would turn against yourselves. For we are fully persuaded that we can suffer no injury from any one, unless we are found guilty of some wickedness, or proved to be bad men: and kill us, ye may; but hurt us ye cannot.

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3. That no one, however, may imagine this to be an unfounded and rash boast, we entreat that the charges against Christians may be examined; and if

was invested with an equal share of sovereign power. Among the many vices of this younger Verus, he possessed one virtue: a dutiful reverence for his wiser colleague, to whom he willingly abandoned the ruder cares of empire. The philosophic emperor dissembled his follies, lamented his early death, and cast a decent veil over his memory."

• Flavia Neapolis was, as its name implies, a new town, built near the ruins of Sychem, in Samaria. It derived its name Flavia from Flavius Vespasian, who sent a colony thither.

they be proved to be well founded, we are willing that they should be punished as they deserve, or even to punish them ourselves. But if no one has any proof to bring against them, right reason requires that you should not, in consequence of an evil report, injure innocent men, or rather yourselves, since your decisions would be influenced not by judgment but by passion.

Every wise man will agree, that an appeal of this nature can then only be conducted equitably and well, when subjects have the privilege of giving, without interruption, a full account of their lives and opinions; and princes, on the other hand, pass sentence in all godliness and true philosophy, and not according to the dictates of violence and arbitrary power: since by so doing, both princes and subjects would secure their own interest. For even one of the ancients hath somewhere said, "Unless both princes and subjects be influenced by true philosophy, the state can never prosper.' It will be our care, therefore, to give all men the power of examining our lives and doctrines, that we may not suffer for the errors blindly committed by such as determine to be ignorant of our opinions: and it will be your duty, as right reason requires, when ye have heard the cause, to be just judges. For if, when ye shall have been so informed, ye do not what is just, ye will be inexcusable before GOD. A name in itself ought not to be judged favorably or unfavorably, without the actions which that name implies. Although, as to our name, which is made a subject of accusation against us, we are the best of men. But as we should

ὰ ἀξιοῦμεν — κολάζεσθαι ὡς πρέπον ἐστὶ, μᾶλλον δὲ κολάζειν. The translation expresses the sense which FABRICIUS gives to this difficult passage. A similar sentiment is found at the end of Sect. 22. "We even entreat that those who live not agreeably to their doctrines, but are merely called Christians, may be punished by you."

Other explanations of the words are given by THIRLBY.

PLATO de Republicâ. v. Tom. II. p. 473, D. This was a favorite maxim of Antoninus the philosopher, and was, therefore, judiciously introduced by Justin Martyr.

• Χρηστότατοι. The names CHRISTUS and Χρηστὸς were frequently confounded; sometimes fancifully enough. Thus THEOPHILUS ad Autolycum, p. 69, Β. ἐγὼ μὲν οὖν ὁμολογῶ εἶναι Χριστιανὸς, καὶ φορῶ τὸ θεοφιλές ὄνομα τοῦτο, ἐλπίζων εὔχρηστος εἶναι τῷ Θεῷ. And again, p. 77, B. See TERTULLIAN, Apol. Sect. 3.

think it unjust that, if we are proved to be guilty, we should demand to be acquitted in consequence of possessing a good name, so on the other hand, if we are proved to be innocent of all offence both in the name which we bear, and in the lives which we lead, it will be for you to beware, lest, if you unjustly punish the guiltless, ye yourselves_should be exposed to the vengeance of justice. From a mere name neither praise nor blame can justly arise, unless something either good or bad can be proved by actions. For you pass not sentence upon any that are accused among yourselves, until they are condemned; but against 55 us you receive the very name as an accusation; whereas from our name you ought rather to punish our accusers. For we are accused of being Christians: but to hate that which is good, (which Chrestus implies,) is manifestly unjust. And again, if any one of those also who are so accused, denies it, asserting that he is not, ye dismiss him; ye release him as if ye had nothing whereof to accuse him. But if any one confesses that he is a Christian, ye punish him for his confession : whereas ye ought to inquire into the life both of him who confessed and of him who denied, that by their deeds it might be made manifest what kind of man each of them was.

4. For as some, who have been taught by our master CHRIST not to deny him, even when tortured, exhort (others to embrace the faith); so it may happen that men of evil lives may afford a pretence to others, who are anxious to accuse all Christians of impiety and injustice. But this too is unjustly done. For many assume the name and garb of Philosophy, who act not at all in conformity with their character. And ye well know that men holding opposite opinions and doctrines among the ancients, are styled by the common name of philosophers. Now some of these taught atheism; and some who were poets attributed even to Jupiter the grossest indulgences, with his own children. Yet those who give publicity to such opinions receive no prohibition from you. Nay, ye even propose prizes and honors to such as shall eloquently express these disgraceful histories of your gods.

5. Why then should we be thus treated, who openly

avow our determination not to injure any one, nor to hold these impious opinions? Ye judge not righteous judgment, but under the excitement of unreasonable passion, and lashed on by the scourges of evil demons, ye punish without judgment and without thought. For the truth must be spoken. Evil demons," in times of old, assuming various forms, went in unto the daughters of men, and committed other abominations; and so astonished the minds of men with the wonders which they displayed, that they formed not a rational judgment of what was done, but were hurried away by their fears; so that, not knowing them to be evil demons, they styled them gods, and addressed them by the name which each demon imposed upon himself. And when Socrates, in a spirit of true wisdom and research, endeavored to bring all this to light, and to lead men away from the worship of demons, the demons themselves so wrought by the hands of men who delighted in wickedness, as to put him to death, as an atheist or impious, under the pretence that he was introducing new deities. And so in like manner do they act toward us. For not only was this declared to the Greeks by Socrates, at the suggestion of right reason, but also in other lands, by Reason, even the Word itself, which appeared in a bodily form, and was made man, and was called JESUS CHRIST. We, then, believing in him, declare that the demons, who did such things, not only are no gods, but are evil and unholy spirits, whose actions are not even equal to those of virtuous men. Hence it is that we are styled Atheists.i

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6. We confess, indeed, that we are unbelievers of such pretended gods, but not of the most true God, the Father of righteousness and temperance, and of all other virtues, in whom is no mixture of evil. But we worship and adore Him, and his Son, who came out from Him, and hath taught us respecting these things,*

8 Ἐπεὶ τὸ παλαιὸν δαίμονες φαῦλοι ἐπιφανείας ποιησάμενοι, καὶ γυναῖκας ἐμοίχευσαν καὶ παῖδας διέφθειραν, καὶ φόβητρα ἀνθρώποις ἔδειξαν.

* οὐ μόνον μὴ θεους εἶναι φαμὲν, ἀλλὰ κακοὺς καὶ ἀνοσίους δαίμονας. The common reading is un doloùs, which is plainly erroneous.

i See the note on the Martyrdom of Ignatius, c. 3.

κ 'Αλλ' ἐκεῖνόν τε, καὶ τὸν παρ ̓ αὐτοῦ ὑιὸν ἐλθόντα καὶ διδάξαντα ἡμᾶς ταῦτα καὶ τὸν τῶν ἄλλων ἑπομένων καὶ ἐξομοιουμένων ἀγαθῶν ἀγγέλων στρατὸν,